The Trip
by buffster
Summary: Slightly AU. After stopping the apocalypse in Sunnydale Buffy heads to L.A. to try and stop the one there only to run into familiar faces.
1. The call

This is my first ever fan-fiction so PLEASE be honest but not brutal! The first chapter is going to be fairly short because I'm not exactly sure how to post and I don't want to write something and then lose it. If I do get this posted than the next chapter will be up soon afterwards. 

Disclaimer: I am sad to say that I do not own any of Buffy or Angel characters 

Summary: After Buffy stops the apocalypse arising in Sunnydale she gets a call from Giles, who has gone back to England and the Watchers council, and he tells her about an apocalypse situation in L.A. Buffy leaves for the trip with Spike right away for L.A. While there she runs into Angel and some other old friends. 

Pairing: B/A, B/S/ (friendship), S/F

Buffy was laying on her couch enjoying having quiet since the possible slayers and Giles went back home two days before, leaving her house to her for the moment, when the phone rang. She reached to the floor where she had put the cordless phone and answered.

"Hello," Buffy answered, sounding a bit tired from her nap.

"Buffy? It's Giles. I've got news." Giles voice came over the line sounding strained, like her was about to tell her something he knew she wouldn't want to hear. 

"Gee Giles, can't you just call to chat? I'm not going to like this "news" am I? No there is a shocker! News from Giles that I won't like, what is it now? Another apocalypse to stop?" She said sarcastically. She knew that if Giles was calling her it couldn't be good. He very rarely called without bad news. 

"Actually, yes." He said before quickly continuing so she shouldn't get the chance to comment. "There is some trouble in L.A. A demon called the Beast is causing lost of trouble there and it looks apocalyptic, raining fire and such.

 "So you want me to go and try to stop it." She stated rather than asked, knowing that's what the Watcher wanted.

"Yes. We need you to go there, we will be faxing information on the Beast and the situation around five o'clock today. You may want to train with Spike this afternoon and then take him with you to L.A. You will need to leave right after you get the information. We have already reserved a hotel room for you both for the next several days at a hotel in L.A. called the Hyperion." Giles relayed the information to her in a rush, needing to get to the council to see if he could find any more information the Beast.

"Alright. I'll go tell Spike and the others now. Bye Giles" Buffy said, not sounding at all happy with her task but knowing she didn't have a choice.

"Goodbye Buffy, and good luck." Buffy heard the click from the other end and hung up. 

"Fun fun. Another apocalypse for Buffy to stop! And in L.A!" Buffy said dryly to herself. "This just can't get any worse. Besides what are the chances of seeing him there?" She asked herself before grabbing her coat and heading out into the night for the Magic Box where she knew she would find the others. Anya had convinced them to help her clean that night and everyone else had agreed to except Buffy who wanted to relax at home.

"So much for that idea." She thought out loud.

She turned the corner to the Magic Box and went in. Hearing the bell everyone looked up at her. Buffy looked at them all; Dawn, Xander, Anya, Willow and even Spike in old close looking like they had been cleaning for hours.

"What's up Buffy?" Willow asked knowing her friend would not be there if something hadn't come up.

"Giles called. There is an apocalypse starting there. Spike and I have to leave for L.A. tonight." Everyone just stared at her until Spike moved to say something.

"What is this 'Spike and I' business. I don't seem to remember agreeing to this fun filled trip you have planned. I don't relish the idea of seeing the Poof again." Spike commented, not really objecting to going but needing something to state his opinion.

"I'm going to need help and you're the only one here who can match my strength. And I don't think we will be seeing Angel while were there, the world can't hate me that much." Buffy told him.

"She has a point, although I don't know why you wouldn't want to see Dead- Boy, he could help to. She is going to need help fighting whatever it is that's there. Do you know what it is?" Xander asked jumping into the conversation.

"Some demon called the Beast. Giles is faxing information on it over in about an hour. Spike and I have to leave as soon as we get it, so we should go get packed now and then meet back here." Buffy said looking at Spike. "While we do that everyone else should see what they can find out about this thing. Giles already made us reservations for a couple of nights at some hotel in L.A. I think it was called the Hyperion…yeah that was it. So lets get moving, I want to get this over with and be back here as soon as possible." She informed the rest of the Scoobies. When there was no comment from anyone she looked at Spike and the walked out the door to go get packed for their trip. 

Once at the house Spike walked down to the basement to get his things packed while Buffy went upstairs to do the same. They packed their clothes and met by the weapon chest. After packing a bag full of weapons they were out the door and Spike was driving them to the store.

"So, no looking forward to a run in with the Poof?" Spiked asked, trying to make conversation.

"I don't really care. I just wouldn't know what to say to him if I did see him. I mean, how would we act around each other? It would wind up being really awkward." Buffy said, turning in her seat to face him. Spike had gotten over his obsession and with the soul realized he loved her more like a sister than anything else, so they were close friends now. She could tell him just about anything. They pulled up to the store and got out. As they entered Buffy saw her friends anxiously reading over the papers Giles had sent.

She walked over to the table where they were all huddled and grabbed the papers. She scanned them quickly before looking at her friends.

"Did you guys find out anything else?" She asked looking at them all.

"No. The little that we did find is in the papers. It doesn't look to fun." Dawn said looking at her sister and the bleach blond vampire. 

"Alright. Were leaving now. I'll call the house once we get to the hotel. You guys keep looking, maybe you will find something the Council didn't." Buffy said before she hugged her friends' bye and walked out the door and got in Spikes car. As soon as she was in he sped off towards L.A.


	2. Getting There

All right, here is the second chapter. PLEASE review! If anyone wants to beta-read the next chapter I would appreciate it and send it to you as soon as it's written.

As they entered L.A. at about nine o'clock and they started looking for their hotel. Not seeing it coming up anytime soon Buffy turned towards Spike.

"Giles reserved the rooms under fake names. He thought it would be better if no one could find out where the Slayer and her ensouled vampire friend were staying." She explained to him. He looked at her, his expression telling her he thought Giles was just a tad bit loony.

"What are the names?" He asked, turning back to the road.

 "I am Nicole Smith and you are Mike Duff." Buffy told him. "He wanted the names to sound as normal as possible. So Spike and Buffy wouldn't have really worked."

"Spike is a perfectly normal name!" He saw the look she gave him that seemed to say 'Yeah right.' "He could have used William!" Spike said in his defense.

"Oh, yeah. William the Bloody would have worked wonderfully! Doesn't stand out at all." Buffy said to Spike.

"No need to get so sarcastic." He said, grinning at her.

"Is that the hotel there?" Buffy asked pointing to a hotel at the right with a sign in front that said Hypernion. 

"Looks like it."

"Doesn't look to bad from here." She commented. " I thought Giles was going to put us in a rat-infested motel to keep our profile low, but this looks nice."

The Hypernion was several stories high with a nice looking out door pool and garden in the front. It had a nice yard and circular driveway so people could get out at the front doors with flowers lining it.

"I'll go check in while you park the car and bring the bags in." Buffy told him.

"How come I get stuck carrying in the bags? You have super-strength, you carry them!" Spike complained.

"Yeah I could, but I don't want to. So you have to. I'm going to sign in, I'll meet you in there." With that she hopped out of the car and entered the hotel before he had the chance to say anything.

As she walked to the front desk she looked around the hotel and decided it looked nice enough to stay in for a couple days. The lobby had marble floor and a high ceiling. ' We'll have to see what the rooms are like.' Buffy thought to herself.

As she reached the front desk a woman with long brown hair spoke to her.  

"Hi, welcome to the Hypernion Hotel, I'm Fred. What can I do for you?"

"I have reservations for two rooms." Buffy told the woman

Fred stared at the petite blonde in front of her for a moment. She looked familiar, yet Fred knew she had never met the girl. Maybe she had just seen a picture of her. 

"What are the names?" She asked the blonde.

"Nicole Smith and Mike Duff." Buffy told Fred. Fred typed the names into the computer in front of her.

"You have rooms 14 and 16, they are connected rooms." Fred told Buffy before handing her two keys. Just then a bleach blond man wearing a black trench coat and carrying several bags came in and walked towards them.

"Did you get the rooms?" He asked the blond.

"Yup!" She confirmed. "Rooms 14 and 16." 

"If you need anything there will be someone here all night or you can go to the room directly across the hall, room 15. The two men staying there live here, so if you need help with anything just knock on their door." Fred told the two people standing in front of her. 

"Thank you." Buffy said before she and Spike walked off in search of their rooms. When they found them they went into their respective rooms to change into more comfortable clothes for a patrol.

After changing Buffy opened the door that connected the two rooms and skipped into Spikes room. Spike finished putting his shirt on just as she came in and currently sitting down putting on sox and shoes.

"Almost ready? I want to get this over with and go back to Sunnyhell as soon as possible." Buffy said to Spike. He stood up, grabbed his jacket and led her out of the room just as the door across the hall shut. Buffy got a familiar tingling sensation in her stomach that usually told her when He was near, but ignored it and continued walking out the hotel door. 

Spike and Buffy patrolled for about two hours and only staked one vamp when they decided to head back to the hotel at about eleven o'clock. They got back to the hotel without trouble and went into their rooms to get into their pajamas and go to bed. Buffy had put on light blue pants with a tank top to match that showed her stomach. Spike came into Buffy's room as she was brushing her hair. 

"I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me up at eight in the morning like you usually do. As sun-proof as this hotel appears to be I would rather be safe than a pile of ash waiting to get sucked up by a vacuum." Spike said to her before retreating back into he own room.

Buff's stomach growled at her, reminding her that she hadn't eaten all day. She decided to look for a vending machine around the hotel. She thought she had seen one just around the corner on her way in from patrol. She went to see and found one there. She bought a bag or Ruffles and decided to look around the hotel while she ate.

She made it to the lobby before she stuck her hand in the bag and didn't feel anything. She looked down into the bag to see if she was missing any. She walked right into a tall, dark figure, right in front of the desk where Fred was sitting,  that appeared to have been reading mail until she had run into him. He placed his arms on her arms to steady her, not realizing that she had slayer balance and wouldn't have fallen anyway. 

She looked at the man to thank him but stopped short, shocked when she saw his face. He looked at her, just as shocked. She was the first one to speak.

"Angel?" Buffy questioned, not really sure she was seeing him

"Buffy?" Angel asked, sounding shocked.


	3. Greetings and Meetings

Hey! I'm sorry about the confusion. I didn't know anything about the Hypernion. That part is going to be AU. The Fang-Gang owns it and keeps it as a normal hotel for extra money and run Angel Investigations in the finished basement of it. Sorry!

Buffy and Angel stood staring at each other for what seemed like hours. A loud commotion at the front door drew their attention away and towards the noise. Three men came barreling in, bloody and out of breath.  

"Gunn! What happened to you three?" Fred asked sounding worried, she came out from behind the desk to examine them. 

The tall African-American standing in front of Buffy was about to answer until her saw her and seemed to think better of it. Gunn looked at Angel, asking him with his eyes if it was okay to talk about it in front of the petite blonde standing in front of him. Before he could say anything Buffy asked them a question.

"Did you have a run-in with the Beast?" She asked to everyone's shock. They just stared at her a moment, until Wesley came to his senses and answered her.

"Yes, we did." He paused for a moment before continuing. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you again to Wes. Surprising, but good… I think." Buffy said in reply, sounding a bit skeptical of what she was saying. "What do you guys know about the Beast? Giles gave me some info, but anything you know could be useful."

"Why don't we go into the back to discuss this? It wouldn't be good to have a customer her any of this." Angel suggested, finally finding his voice after seeing Buffy again for the first time since Willow had brought her back. 

"That sounds like a good idea." Gunn said.

"I'm just going to go back to my room now." Buffy said, trying to escape the awkward situation she found herself in.

"Why don't you come with us? We can pull our resources together. It might help all of us." This coming from Angel, who was staring at Buffy again.

"Ummm…. ok." Buffy said, not seeing a way out and knowing her had a point. "Just let me go get something from my room real quick." Buffy turned around without waiting for them to say anything. 'Oh my God. I am not prepared for this! How am I supposed to act around him? Concentrate on business. That's a good idea.' She thought to herself before entering Spike's room and waking him up.

"Bloody hell Slayer!" Spike said, quickly sitting up on the bed where he had been deep asleep before she started shaking him. "I was asleep! This better be damn important."

"Angels here. Some friends of his had a run in with the best. Were gonna go have a meeting with them right now, so get you're lazy ass up and come with me." Buffy ordered before going to his closet, grabbing a black shirt and tossing it to him to put on. Spike deftly caught the shirt and just stared at it a moment before putting on. 

"So, the grand Poof is here? I thought I sensed him, but I didn't believe it." Spike told her.

"Yeah. Do you think he would notice if we didn't go to this meeting?" She asked him, not yet knowing how to deal with Angel being there and the feelings that came with him. 

"We need to go. As much as I would like to avoid seeing him again, he could have some useful information, and we are here to save the world…again." He told her, for once being the voice of reason.

"Fine." She huffed before walking out the door. With Spike at her side Buffy headed towards the lobby again. The only person in there was Fred, who was sitting behind the desk again. When Buffy and Spike walked in she gave them a curious look and directed them to the meeting.

"Everyone else is downstairs in the investigations center. They told me to tell you to meet them there. Just go into the office behind me and down he stairs and that where they will be." She paused for a second, looking at Buffy who was making her way to the office. "Have we met before?" She asked Buffy

"Not that I know of." Buffy threw over her shoulder. She made her way down the stairs and stopped suddenly at the bottom casing Spike to walk into her. Buffy lost her balance and fell, Spike landed on top of her and they heard all talk stop and felt everyone's eyes on them. They rushed to get up and turned to face everyone. Buffy turning red as a tomato from embarrassment, she looked at Angel who simply smiled at her before turning to look at Spike who looked right back at him. 

"While I would say it's good to see you again Poof, but well, I'd be lying." Spike said to Angel causing Angel to glare at him.  

"Well I certainly can't say it's a pleasure to see you either." Angel responded. Buffy glared at the both of them knowing that what they were doing wasn't leading to anything good.

"Stop it, both of you. We have a world to save so lets get down to business cuz quite frankly, I want to be out of here and back in Sunnydale relaxing as soon as possible." Buffy told them, drawing their attention away from each other and onto her.

"I agree with her." Gunn added. "I don't like having to worry about the end of the world, but first I want to know who the hell you two are. You," he said looking at Buffy, "look familiar."

"I'm Buffy, and you are…?" 

"My names Gunn. I work for Angel Investigations. So, you're the famous Buffy the vampire slayer?" He turned to look at Angel for a moment before turning back to face Buffy.

"That would be me. Jeez, I really do have a reputation if people in L.A. know about me. This isn't good. I'm supposed to be totally secret. All well." 

"Oh no, we know about you because Angel cakes here used to brood all the time because of you." A green demon with little horns said to Buffy. "I'm Lorne by the way. There's no need to go all slayer because of me either." He said cautiously. "I help out here." He turned to look at Spike. "And who might you be?"

"Spike."

"Vampire?" Gunn questioned.

"Yes. You planning on making something of it?" Spike said.

"Not unless you try to kill us all." Gunn told him. "You sure do have thing with hanging out with vamps, slayer."

"Yeah, well what can I say? I don't try to make a habit of it…it just sorta happens…but only twice! And the first time I didn't know he was a vamp!" Buffy defended herself. 

"Now Angel never told as that part." Lorne said looking at Angel. "You were talking about Angel cakes here, weren't you?" He asked, just to make sure.

"Yup." Buffy told him.

"Can you not call me that?" Angel requested of Lorne.

"On to more important business." Buffy started, "What do you say we start this meeting?"

"Good idea. Lets go into the conference room." Angel said, leading them into a back room with a circular table with chairs placed around it. They all took a seat before Buffy realized there was still someone there who she didn't know. She looked at Connor for a minute something about him seemed familiar.

"Who are you?" She asked him.

"I'm Connor"


	4. Familiar Faces

Here is chapter 4. Sorry it took so long, by computer wasn't working and I had to get a new part. PLEASE review! 

Buffy stared a Connor a moment, waiting to see if he would tell her anything else about who he was, but having more important things on her mind then finding out and figuring she could ask someone later she continued. 

"Nice to meet you." She reached her hand across the table for him to shake. Connor paused for a second before taking her hand in his, holding her soft little hand in his big one before she, to his disappointment, pulled away and got back to business. "So, what do you know about the Beast?" Buffy asked them, looking around the group.

"We know that it is connected to Angelus, can suck the life out of people, turn them into zombies, and is out to destroy the world." Wesley informed her. "What do you know about it?"

"We know that it's as dangerous as bloody hell." Spike said.

"It's not. Close though." Angel commented looking at Buffy for a moment before turning away.

"The papers that Giles sent said that it can only be killed by cutting of the hand it uses to suck the life out of people with and that that hand is how it gets it food. He feeds off of human life. They also said what you just told me, minus the part about being connected to Angelus." Buffy informed them and smiled when she saw relieved looks come over their faces. 

"We didn't know how to kill it." Angel told her.

"I kind of figured, seeing the happy expressions on your faces when I told you how to kill it. The problem is getting close enough to it to be able to cut off the hand."  Buffy said looking at them all.

"With the strength the three of us have together the bloody bugger should come down." Spike said.

"How are you going to get to it? It will probably kill you all before you even found it, not that I'd mind." Connor said, looking at Angel while saying the last part.

"Yeah, but I would. I plan on going home in one piece. I wouldn't be thrilled with anyone getting killed." Buffy told them.

"I wouldn't either." Angel said while staring at Buffy. "That's why you're not coming. Spike and I can go since were already dead."

"You are going to need the strength of a Slayer and I am the only one currently available." Buffy told him, not about to sit around while they went out to fight. "Besides, there is a big difference between being a pile of dust and walking and talking just like a normal another human minus the beating heart of one. And I don't treasure the idea of brining Spike back in a zip-loc bag and informing Dawn that her favorite vamp is dust. I am going with you and there is no way you can stop me. Try and then we can count how many bruises you have after I get to you." 

"She should go with you Angel. You know your not going to be able to stop her anyways. And saying that you and Spike were already dead was not a very good reason. Next time you might try coming up with a better excuse." Wesley told him.

"As much as I would love to have Buffy stay here where she would be safer, she isn't going to no matter what we do." Spike added with sincerity in his voice. 

"Now that that's settled we can get on to coming up with a plan." Gunn said. " We still don't know where it is at the moment or how to actually get to the arm without anyone getting killed."

The group went into deep discussions about how to attack the demon and had just settled on a plan of action when cell phone ringing interrupted them. Everyone automatically reached for his or her phone, before finding that it was Buffy's that had rung. 

"Hello." She said into the phone. 

"Hey Buffy, it's Willow. The rest of us were thinking of coming out to L.A. to try and help out. How is it going there anyway?" The witch inquired.

"It's good. You guys really don't need to come here though." Buffy told her.

"Were going to anyway. We don't like just sitting here while you're out there trying so save the world again. We'll be there tomorrow afternoon. We all miss you, especially Dawn, it was her idea to come out there." Willow paused for a moment, hearing her name called up the stairs. "I have to go Buff. Dinner. We'll see you tomorrow; we got the name of the hotel from Giles and already made some reservations. Bye."

"Bye." Buffy said before closing the phone. She turned to face Spike to tell him what was happening. "The others are coming up tomorrow afternoon. Apparently they don't like sitting around feeling useless while we try to save the world. They already called and reserved a couple or rooms here." She informed him.

"The Bit coming with them?" He asked her.

"Yeah. I don't like the idea of her being in this kind of danger when she doesn't need to be, though. She will just have to stay at the hotel and research or something. Under no circumstances is she allowed to come out and help fight." Buffy told him. Spike nodded his agreement before adding,

"I don't want her any where near this place right now so there is no bloody way I would let her go out and help us fight." He looked around at the other people. "None of you buggers let her with you either. Got that?" He asked them. They all nodded their agreement, knowing nothing good would come of letting the 'Bit', as Spike had called the person, out on patrol. Angel looked at the clock, a little shocked at how late it was.

"I think its time to finish here. Its about three a.m. right now and Connor needs to get to bed." Angel said looking at the boy.

"Fine." Connor said before getting up. "Goodnight Buffy." He turned and left for his room.

"I'm going to go talk to Fred for a minute. Goodnight everyone." Angel said before following the path Connor had taken a moment earlier.

"Yeah. Spike and I are going to. I would like to get at least a little sleep tonight." Buffy said while getting up and grabbing her purse. She and Spike left with the others following them out of the room were about to enter the lobby when Buffy froze in shock at seeing a familiar face hugging Angel.

"Cordelia?" Buffy said once she found her voice.

"Oh my God! Buffy!" Cordelia said in shock before meeting Buffy in the lobby and hugging her. "It's so good to see you!" Buffy stared at her; surprised at the warm welcome and the fact that Cordelia was acting like they used to be the best of friends.

"Umm…It's good to see you to Cordy." Buffy said a little uncertain. "Spike and I were just heading to bed…" She trailed off, not quite sure what to say.

"Ok. I'll talk to you in the morning and we can catch up, maybe go for breakfast or something."

"Yeah…sure." Buffy looked at her a moment, deciding that she sounded sincere. "I'll see you in the morning. I'd say we could just talk now but I think sleep would be of the goodness right now so goodnight everyone."

"'Night." Was chorused to her in return before she and Spike turned to head for their rooms. As the two walked into Buffy's room she turned to Spike with tears running down her eyes.

"What's wrong, Buffy?" Spike asked her with concern in his voice.

"I can't take it! I wasn't prepared for this, to see him or them again. I was ready to fight the Beast and go home, but not this." She started sobbing from the emotional stress and Spike lead her to sit on the king size bed. 

"Why don't you get into you're pajamas and then we can lay down and you can tell me everything. We can lay down and discuss seeing Peaches again and what a bloody ass he is." Spike said, trying to comfort her. 

Apparently it worked a little because the tears were slowing and she was getting her pajamas from the closet and going into the bathroom to change. When she came back out she was wearing loose cotton pants and a tight dark green spaghetti strap shirt with he belly showing and her hair was pulled up into a high pony-tail, he face looking a little more refreshed having just been washed. She laid down with him on the bed, crawled under the blankets with him and laid her head on his chest 

"So, you want to talk or sleep?" He asked her.

"Talk."

"Okay then. What do you want to talk about?"  He didn't want to force her to talk about his grandsire so let her pick the subject, if Angel happened to be the subject then so be it.

"How am I supposed to act around him?" She asked him, not really thinking he would know but hoping he would.

"I can't tell you that." He paused a minute before going on, "It depends on how you feel about him. So, how do you feel about him?" She thought for a minute before responding.

"I changed my mind. I don't want to talk, I want sleep."

"Fine, but sleep isn't going to change the fact that you are going to have face him again in a few hours." Spike told her.

"I know, but it will give me something else to do then concentrate on him. Not that he wont be in my dreams, but this way I wont have to consciously think about him." She finished and shifted to snuggle deeper into Spike before they both promptly fell asleep from exhaustion.

Little did they know that Angel was watching them as they slept, his eyes glowing yellow. He had wanted to talk to Buffy and had asked Fred if Buffy and Spike were sharing a room and hearing what he wanted to, no, he got the key to Buffy's room so he could go in if she didn't answer. When she didn't answer the door he used his key and walked in and saw them sleeping together, looking intimate to him, closed the door and stalked across the hall into his room. He decided he would talk to her later. 


	5. Ignorance is Bliss

The next morning after Buffy woke up and got dressed she left the room where Spike was still asleep and she headed towards the lobby where she saw Fred sitting behind the desk looking bored. Buffy walked up to her, and saw Conner in the office behind her, going down the stairs.

"Morning Fred." She said upon reaching the desk. 

"Hey Buffy." Fred didn't know what to say to Buffy. She had heard about her and had tons of questions to ask her about Angel but figured she would ask them later, after the apocalypse was stopped. 

"What's the deal with the Conner kid?" Buffy asked, curious to find out all she could about the boy. "Who is he exactly?"

"Oh, he's Angels son." Fred told her. Buffy stood there shocked for a minute before speaking.

"T-that's not possible…He must be 16 a-and when I saw Angel 3 years ago he didn't have a son. Or if he did he didn't tell me." Buffy wouldn't, believe that Angel had a son with someone else; she stared at Fred in disbelief, looking like she might cry. "How could this happen?"

"Maybe Angel should be the one telling you this…" Fred said, feeling unsure and fearing how Angel was going to react when he found out that Fred had told Buffy about Conner.

"Please…just tell me." Buffy sounded so desperate to know that Fred felt like she had to tell her.

"Alright, but if Angel comes after me for this my death is going to be on you're hands." Fred told her, smiling. "I'm going to give you the shorter version, it's the only one I know. I don't know the details." Buffy nodded her head in understanding and Fred continued. "Darla came back human, Angel slept with her, and she got pregnant with Connor, had him, and died to save him. Then when Connor was a few months old an old enemy of Angel's came and took him to a hell dimension with him. Conner came back a few months later, all grown up because time moved faster where he had been." Fred finished looking worriedly at Buffy to see her reaction. 

"That poor kid, he must have been so scared." Buffy said, sounding sad for the kid and then getting a look of fury and hurt on her face. "I cant' believe he didn't tell me! That asshole!" She had tears running down her face and a look of fury and sadness in her eyes. 

"Who's an asshole?" Angel asked, coming up behind Buffy. She turned around to face him, looking like she was going to have a breakdown.

"You!" She yelled at him. Seeing the look of worry and confusion on his face she went on. "How could you not tell me about Conner? I can't believe you!" Angel interrupted he before she could go on.

"I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't think I would ever see you again so there wasn't a reason to tell you."

"Well that plan worked really well for you!" Buffy spat at him. "You should have told me no matter what!" She yelled, glaring at him.

"Lets go somewhere else to talk about this." He grabbed he arm and began leading her towards his room. " Fred if you need me we will be in my room." She yanked her arm away from him and followed down the hall towards her room except went into the room across the hall from hers. Once they entered the room she started yelling at him again.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me! Didn't you think I might want to know? Or did you just not care enough to tell me?" She stood in front of him and began sobbing. He stepped towards her, wanting to take her into his arms and comfort her, but she stepped back. He looked at her hurt and she glared back at him.

"I didn't want to hurt you. I knew if I told you wouldn't react well!" He told her, starting to get aggravated. 

"Now, what would make you think that?" She asked sarcastically. "Could it have something to do with the fact that I clearly remember you telling me you couldn't have kids? If I remember correctly that was one of the reasons you said you had to leave me. Was I not good enough? Did you not want me anymore? Didn't want to have a life with me?" She asked him, sounding so sad and hurt that his heart was breaking.

"That's not it at all. I can't have kids. Conner is a prophecy." Angel told her, before getting mad himself. "I left you so that you could have a normal life. I slept with Darla because I was so depressed about leaving you!" She interrupted him before he could continue.

"Yeah, that makes tons of sense!" She said sarcastically, "I bet you just thought, 'Hey, I miss Buffy, so let me go sleep with the bitch who tried to kill her.' Yeah, very understandable."

"I wanted to forget about the pain I had from leaving you, and sleeping with her seemed like a good way to ease it for a little while." He said to her a bit loudly.

"What about your soul? You were willing to risk losing it to be with Darla, but not me?" Buffy asked in a small voice.

"No, that's not it at all." He couldn't believe she would even think that. "I knew she couldn't give me perfect happiness like you could." After saying that they just stared at each other before Angel remembered his anger. "How could you go to Spike!? I left so you could have a normal life and you turn to an undead monster who tried killing you and your friends!" He yelled at her.

"You're one to talk! I seem to remember you trying to kill me and everyone who I care about!"

"That was different. Spike doesn't have a soul!" 

Spike had been woken up from yelling and followed the noise to across the hall. He opened the door and went in just time to hear Angel's last comment.

"See, that's where you're wrong Peaches. I went out and got a soul, and we aren't together." Spike told him. Angel just stared at him before looking at Buffy for confirmation. At her nod he turned back to Spike. Just then there was a knock at the door and Gunn walked in. 

"Angel, we've got trouble." Gunn said, looking between the three people standing in front of him, sensing the tension.

"We'll meet you downstairs in a minute." Angel told him. Gunn nodded and left the room. Angel looked at the others, at Spike and then Buffy, "Buffy…" He trailed off not sure what to say. Buffy walked out of the room and headed towards downstairs drying her eyes. Spike glared at Angel and then followed Buffy. Angel stood for a minute, trying to figure out what happened before shaking his head a following the others. 

Once everyone was situated around the table Gunn began filling the others in on what was going on.  

"The Beast was spotted by 11th and 14th street. It's getting closer to us." Gunn informed them.

"We need to get this thing now. Have you found a way to get us close enough to the arm chop it off without getting ourselves killed in the process?" Buffy asked, looking at Fred and Gunn who had done most of the researching. 

"No. You are going to have to use someone or something as a diversion." Gunn told them.

"I say Peaches runs in front of it as a distraction while Buffy and I go for the arm." Spike said, liking the idea of using his grandsire as a distraction.

"I don't like the idea of using Angel as bait. He could die!" Fred said.

"What a loss that would be." Connor said, but was ignored, except for a glare from Gunn. 

"So could we all. Look, the thing is after Angelus, so it will follow Angel where ever he goes, if Buffy or I were to try 'n distract it while Peaches was near it would ignore us and go after him." Spike told them.

"He's right, it has to be me." Angel said, looking around the table at them and most of their scared faces.

"How good are the chances of you turning to dust? Are they good?" Conner questioned, sounding hopeful.

"He wont be turning to dust, so don't get your hopes up." Spike said to the teen. "If I let him die I would have to up with her," he gestured to Buffy with his hand, "crying and being depressed all the time. From what I heard that's exactly what happened the last time the Poof disappeared into some hell dimension."

"To bad he didn't stay there. I bet he fit in perfectly." Connor muttered so only Spike could hear him. 

"Look, we have to go after him tonight. We will just have to figure out what to do as we go." Buffy said.

"She's right. We go after it tonight." Angel told everyone. 

"Now that that is settled, I could really go for some lunch." Buffy said.

"I have some mac and cheese in my room if you want some." Cordelia told her.

"Great. I love that stuff." Buffy told her.

"We can catch up while we eat. It'll be great!" Cordelia said that before getting up with Buffy and leading her up the stairs and to her room.


	6. Early arrivals

Hey! I'm sorry this took so long, been having some problems. Anyways, here is chapter 6.  Faith went to Sunny-D to help after visiting Angel and comes back with the others. Please review! The more reviews I get the sooner the next chapter will be up.

As Buffy and Cordelia were eating their mac and cheese Buffy sensed the other women staring at her and looked up to find that she had sensed right. Cordelia was staring at her like she was trying to figure something out by looking at her. 

"What?" Buffy asked annoyed.

"What?" Cordelia asked confused, not knowing what Buffy was asking.

"Why are you so intent on staring at me? It's like you think your suddenly going to find something by staring at me."

"It's nothing. I was just trying to figure something out." The curious look on Buff's face went right by Cordelia so Buffy had to ask,

"What are you trying to figure out?"

"If you really did do the nasty with Spike." Cordelia continued, choosing to ignore the flabbergasted look Buffy was wearing. "I mean when I first heard I just thought that you had a thing for vampires, but now I think it was something more. The way you two act around each other, its not the way normal ex-lovers act around each other." When Buffy remained silent Cordelia pushed farther. "So, Did you to get groiny?"

"If I answer this do you promise to answer a question for me?" Buffy asked the seer. Cordelia looked at her dubiously before saying anything. 

Nodding her head she said "Ok"

"Great. Yes I did have sex with Spike." Buffy looked at Cordelia who was getting ready to ask another question but was cut off my Buffy. "And before you ask, and I know you were going to, it was more then once and I can honestly say that it wasn't bad, but it was purely physical. No emotion was involved what-so-ever." Buffy got a dreamy look in her eyes that Cordelia noticed. "Not like it was with…" Buffy trailed off coming back from memory lane.

"Not like it was with Angel." Cordelia finished. She continued when Buffy just looked at her, wondering how she knew. "Yeah, I know that look. Where your eyes get all dreamy and you go off in your own little world. Angel gets it when he thinks about you. We usually avoid him then; he gets all broody after he comes back to the real world." Cordy informed the slayer. "If you're done with that I'll take it." Cordelia said gesturing to the bowl that had contained the food. At Buffy's nod she picked it up and brought it to the sink with her own. "We really should get back out and meet the others in the lobby. We said we would." 

"I get to ask my question first." Buffy told her. "You are not getting off that easily."

"Fine, but make it quick. We really do need to get back out there." 

Buffy paused and started to say something before changing her mind and asking something else. "Did you really sleep with Conner?" Buffy asked. Cordelia looked at her a little taken aback. Buffy had chickened out. She had wanted to know if Cordelia was or had ever been romantically involved with Angel but changed her mind, deciding she didn't want to know; she might not get the answer she wanted.

"Sort of. It wasn't technically me. It was an evil monster thing that took over my body. Really hard to explain but you get the jest of it." Cordelia said looking down.

"Ok. Just wondering. I heard some people talking about before I knew who Connor was. Once I did I didn't know what to think and was kind of curious." Buffy said. "We can go meet the others now, they are probably wondering where we are." Buffy said heading towards the door with Cordelia following. 

Angel had just finished eating and was talking to Fred in the lobby when there was a loud commotion at the door and he was attacked. Or, at least, that's what he thought had happened. Once he realized that the grip around his neck wasn't threatening he looked down to see who or what had its arms rapped around his neck. 

"Dawn?" He questioned, not sure that he was right. This girl was tall and mature; the Dawn he knew was just a little kid.

"Angel! I've missed you so much." Dawn said pulling away to look at Angel.

"I have missed you too Dawn." He told her, looking her over from head to toe. "You are so grown up now. Not the little girl I left behind." 

"Yeah, well a lot can change in three years." She told him icily, he face suddenly red with pent up anger. "Would it have killed you to come visit even once? Or even call? Buffy wasn't the only person you left behind, although she probably the one who was hurt the most by it." Dawn informed him.

"I know and I am sorry. I knew that if a went back I wouldn't be able to leave again and if I had called and something had been wrong I would have rushed there to protect you and your sister."

"Would that have been such a bad thing? Even Buffy the Super Slayer needs protecting sometimes." Dawn said before changing the subject. "Everyone else should be coming in at any moment. I left them to get the luggage." She told him, grinning widely. Just then Willow, Kennedy, Xander, Anya, Faith and Giles came into the hotel. Angel looked up at them and smiled at the familiar faces.

"Angel." Willow said before walking over and hugging him tightly. "Its good to see you. I misses you, we all did." The witch told him.

"Its good to see you too." Angel said looking at everyone. Giles walked over and shook Angels hand.

"Yes. I suppose it is good to see you again." Giles told him, sounding very British. Xander even walked over and shook Angels hand.

"Hey Dead Boy."  Was Xander's greeting? Next up was Faith who hugged Angel with all her slayer strength.

"Faith." Angel chocked out, "you're going to squeeze me to death." Faith immediately let go and smiled up at him.

"Its just great to be back." Faith told him. Angel looked around and noticed the other two girls standing in the doorway. Willow saw his gaze and started the introductions.

"This is Anya. She's Xander's and an ex-vengeance demon." Willow moved to stand next to Kennedy, taking her hand in hers before continuing. "And this is Kennedy. She's my girlfriend and a potential slayer." The red head informed Angel.

"It's nice to meet you." Angel said.

"Are you good in bed?" Anya asked out of the blue. At glares she received from her friends she went on to explain. "What? I heard vampires give good orgasms. I figured since he has a soul he's probably even better then most."

"Feel free to ignore her." Faith said. "She's a nympho. Although, now I am kind of curious if she's right, want to tell?" She asked, looking at him too innocently. Angel knew that if he could, he would be blushing.

"Yes. Anyways. Where is Buffy?" Giles asked, effectively changing the subject.

"She's right here." Buffy said as she and Cordelia entered the lobby. "Hey guys. I didn't think you would be here yet."

"Yes, well we decided to come and hour early." Giles said before adding, "Dawn was getting on our nerves asking if it was time to leave every five seconds."

"I did not!" Dawn said indignantly. "It was more like every ten! And I got what I wanted didn't I?" She said. The Scoobies all hugged Buffy and Cordelia, even Xander hugged the seer. 

Angel saw Fred staring at the group and it was best to get introductions over with as soon as possible and walked over to Fred.

"Can you go get everyone else?" He asked her. She nodded and headed into the office and down the stairs. When she came back up she had Gunn, Connor, Spike, Lorne and Wesley with her and they all walked over to the group.

"Wesley?" Dawn asked sounding very much surprised at the mans change in appearance.

"Yes Dawn." Wes looked around at the group, taking in the faces and the changes. "How are you all?" 

"Jeez Wes. You sure do look different. Not so much the stuck up Brit anymore. It's a nice change." Xander commented.

"It's nice to see you again Wesley." Giles said, smiling at the other ex-watcher. 

"You too Giles." Wes said, returning smile.

"Everyone this is Fred, Gunn, Connor and the green guy over there is Lorne." Buffy told them, pointing to everyone as she named them. "And these people here," she said gesturing to the Scoobies, " are Willow, Xander, Giles, Anya and Kennedy. There, now everyone is introduced. So should we head downstairs? You guys can all catch up later, like after the Beast is gone." She asked.

"That's a good idea. We need to get this thing dead as soon as we can." Gunn put in. Everyone nodded their agreement and went down the stairs and into the conference type room. 

"So, what do we know about the big bad Beast?" Xander questioned the others.

By the time everyone was filled in on what was going on it was time for Buffy, Angel and Spike to go out and attempt to destroy the Beast. After getting their weapons ready everyone met them in the lobby.

"Be careful my little warriors." Lorne said as they walked out the door. Once the three were out there Angel turned to Buffy.

"When we get back we need to talk." Angel told her.

"When we get back I need to sleep." Buffy informed him. "But if we have to we can talk tomorrow." Buffy knew he would make her talk to him and was dreading it already.

I promise the next chapter or two will have more B/A action. PLEASE review!


	7. Alone Time

Alright, here is chapter 7. *SPOILERS,* sort of anyways. Willow has already been to L.A. to return Angels soul before she went back to Sunny-D and then back to L.A. So, basically Angel lost his soul and had it returned by Willow before this story started. PLEASE review! Oh, and I really need a beta-reader so if you want to be it email me

It was four in the morning when Buffy, Angel and Spike walked back into the hotel. They were all bloodied and dirty and Buffy was being supported by Spike's arm around her waist and was limping. Angel had wanted to be the one to have his arm around Buffy, helping her walk, while they were walking back to the hotel, but took to long deciding whether or not it was good idea and Spike had helped her, after giving Angel a chance to help the injured slayer. 

Gunn had been coming up the stairs from the investigation center when he heard them enter the hotel. He ran over to them and helped get Buffy sitting on top of the front desk so that she was off her ankle. Once he and Spike had gotten the blonde situated he looked at the two vampires.

"You guys look like hell." Cordelia stated, entering the lobby from where Gunn previously had. 

"Did you kill it?" Fred asked from behind Cordelia. Everyone had heard the commotion and come into the lobby.

"Yes." Was Angel's short answer.

"Was bloody hard though. Horny nearly killed the Slayer over there." Spike said, referring to the monster as Horny, but apparently the others didn't realize that and were staring at Angel. "Bloody hell people! I wasn't talking about the great Poof here. I was talking 'bout the Beast." After hearing that a look of relief came over everyone's faces and they looked at Buffy sitting on the desk.

"I'm fine." Was all she said when everyone stared at her.

"No, you're not." Angel said, looking her in the eye. "There is something wrong with her right ankle." Angel informed the group.

"Let me look at it." Wesley made his way toward her.

"There isn't anything to look at! It's fine!" Buffy told him. At the look he received from Angel Wesley took another step towards her despite her protests, got down to his knees and took her calf in his hand so that he could look at her ankle. "It looks like a sprang. With slayer healing it should be better in a few hours." 

"Fine. I'm going to bad now and don't wake be up unless its an absolute emergency." With that Buffy limped down the hall to her room.

"I think that's a good idea. We have all been up all night worrying or fighting. Bed sounds good." Willow put in.

"I'm with Red. I could use some sleep. Fighting that bloody beast took a bloody lot of energy." Spike informed the group. His only response was a bunch of voices saying 'yes' or 'ok' before everyone said their good nights and went their rooms.

Buffy woke up around four o'clock that afternoon and pulled on a pair of loose fray sweat pants and a pale blue tank top, ankle completely healed, and was wearily entering the hall when she suddenly walked straight into something hard. I automatically put her hand on it and leaned into it so that she wouldn't fall. She felt an arm snake around her waist to help her steady herself, and finally realized what it was she had walked into; Angel. She was currently clinging to Angel and his arm was still around her waist and they both froze, realizing what an awkward situation they had put themselves in. 

Buffy pulled away and looked up at him. "Thanks for not letting me fall." 

"No problem." Inside Angel was reeling from the feeling that having her in his arms had caused.

"Where is everyone?" Buffy asked the vampire.

"They went out." 

"So…what is there to do around here for those of us who are still here?" Buffy asked.

"We could talk." At the frown the frown that appeared on her face he added, "I know you don't want to, and I'm not really looking forward to it, but it has be done."

"Alright." Buffy agreed, resigned to the fact that she would have to eventually anyway. She had been thinking about their other conversation and wasn't up for a repeat performance. 

"We can go into my office." Angel lead Buffy away from the others rooms and to a deserted side of the hotel and into a room with a mahogany desk with two chairs in front of it. Angel went around the desk and sat in the chair behind it while Buffy took a seat in front. 

"So, where do you want to start?" The slayer asked.

"How are you?" Angel asked, genuinely wanting to know.

"Ok. Be brought back from the dead again wasn't really on my 'to do' list, but when does anything ever go the way its supposed to. You?"

"Fine. I'm just happy we finally destroyed the Beast." Angel paused for a moment, not sure he wanted to know the answer to his next question, but asked anyway. "Do you have anybody?"

"Yeah, I have people. Xander and Willow and everyone."

"I mean do you have any knew guy friend?"

"Nope. Just Xander and Spike." Angel stiffened slightly at the mention on his childe.

"So…you don't have a boyfriend?"

"No." Buffy had to hold in a laugh at the intense look of relief that had come over Angel's features upon hearing her answer. "Do you have a girlfriend?" She asked.

Angel cringed at that question, knowing she wasn't going to be happy about the answer. "I…it's complicated." He saw the look of hurt in his eyes and wanted to kill himself for even looking at another women.

"Complicated? Care to explain?"

"No."

"Too bad, you're going to anyway." Buffy demanded.

"I thought I was in love with someone." 

"Yeah, ok." Buffy said, knowing he wasn't going to elaborate anymore than that. She didn't know what else to say to him and was growing uncomfortable in the silence. "I'm kind of hungry. Do you happen to have anything to eat?" Buffy asked, breaking the growing silence.

"I actually do in my room. Cordy put some in there so that when she comes to see me she doesn't have to get up and find food and while Lorne was staying there bought some food and I think some of it is still there." Angel told the blonde sitting in front of him.

"Why was Lorne was staying with you?" Buffy wanted to know.

"He was having his re-painted. He only moved back into it last night while we were gone." He informed Buffy.

"Fred had said something about two men across the hall living here and going to them if I needed help. I t was kind of odd." Buffy said, more to herself then to Angel. "So, food?"

"Sure. We can see what I have to eat." Angel said before he and Buffy left the office and headed back to his room. Buffy found enough to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Angel made for her. After finishing her sandwich Buffy looked across the table to Angel.

"Thank you. That was good." Buffy told him, smiling.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Angel said. He didn't want her to leave yet, so he was quick to come up with a way to get her to stay. "Would you like to watch some TV or a movie?"

"Sure, TV would be of the good." Buffy wasn't ready to leave him and would take any excuse to spend more time with him. Angel got up from the table and led her into where the TV was and they sat on opposite sides of his black leather sofa, where Buffy curled up with her feet under her and took the remote. She flipped channels until she found Sponge Bob and happily set the remote down next to her. 

Angel watched the show for about five minutes before saying, "We are NOT watching this. It is too unrealistic."

"Too bad buddy. I have the remote and this is a good show." Buffy told him picking up the remote from her side and holding it in her hands.

"Please?" Angel begged.

"No." Buffy wasn't going to give up her Sponge Bob.

Angel watched for about another five minutes before it just got on his nerves too much and he lunged at Buffy, trying to get the remote. Buffy hid it behind her and Angel moved so that he had and arm on either side of her waist, trying to get the remote from behind her. 

"Angel!" Buffy screeched as he began to tickle her side with one of his hands, causing her to laugh and try to get away from his tickling hand. She managed to push herself into the corner of the sofa so far that she couldn't move backwards anymore and was forced to stop moving. Angel stopped tickling her and gave her when she stopped moving and looked down at her trapped in his arms and into her eyes. They stared at each other a moment before Angel slowly leaned in and kissed her.

The kiss was hesitant at first, but then as they became aware of the others response, grew more passionate. Angel moved his tongue over her lips; silently asking for an invitation, once she parted her lips they got reacquainted with the others mouth and responses. 

Angel maneuvered Buffy so that they were lying on the couch with him on top. There hands were roaming, exploring each other's body. Buffy was enjoying the feel of Angels weight on top of her and his hands on her body when she was suddenly brought back to reality by someone else gasping loudly. Buffy knew it wasn't Angel or herself and they both turned their heads to see who had interrupted them.


	8. Unwanted revelations

Hey! Here is chapter 8. I still desperately need a beta reader so if you want to get the stories in advance and beta read email me. This may not be Cordelia friendly I think I am going to make her evil soon, just warning you. PLEASE review!

Still lying on top of Buffy Angel stared at the shocked and angry face of Cordelia Chase. Buffy quickly sat up, effectively throwing Angel off of her, and attempted to straighten her rumpled close, as did Angel who was now sitting beside her on the couch. 

"You jerk!" Cordelia yelled at Angel. "I should have known that once she came to town whatever it was we had would go out the window." 

"You were involved?" Buffy rather quietly asked. 

"Yeah. He claimed to 'love' me." Cordelia told her. Buffy looked at the brunette briefly before turning back to Angel.

"Is she telling the truth?" Buffy asked Angel, already knowing the answer but still hoping that Cordelia had been lying.

"Yes." Was Angel's simple reply. He knew that his answer would upset Buffy but also knew that she deserved the truth.

"Why didn't either of you tell me?" Buffy questioned them.

"I didn't think you would be an issue anymore so it wasn't any of your business!" Cordelia spat at the blonde. Buffy just turned to look at Angel; the devastated look on her face was enough to break his heart. 

"I didn't think there was a reason to tell you. I knew it would hurt you and I didn't want to cause you anymore pain than I already have." Angel told her sadly, knowing that he should have told her right away.

"When ever you try to protect me from yourself I just end up getting even more hurt then I would have if you had just told me the truth!" Buffy yelled angrily, before the anger left her and all that was left was sadness and hurt. "I'm going to go get some air…I'll be back in a minute." Buffy told him quietly, desperately needing to leave the room. She couldn't take the thought of Angel loving someone else. 

Angel turned back towards Cordy. He had no idea what to say to her, but apparently that wasn't going to be a problem because she didn't intend on letting him speak right away and began ranting.

"I can't believe you! I thought I had finally gotten you over her." She began. "What is it with you two? You can't be in the same hotel with each other for a few days without getting at it!" Cordelia suddenly stopped, worn out by anger and just looked at Angel sadly, making him feel even guiltier for using her. Which is what he had been doing, and he knew it. He used her replace Buffy but he should have known better; Buffy wasn't replaceable. "I thought you loved me." Cordelia said before she started sobbing.

"I thought I did." Angel told her, taking her trembling from in his arms. "I think I do, just not in the romantic sense."

"Then how? How do you love me?" She asked, pulling away to look him in the eyes.

"As a good friend." 

"I don't think I can be just your friend, Angel."

"Can you try? I can't lose you because of this."

"I can not see you two together making puppy dog eyes at each other, it would be to hard for me." Cordelia told the vampire.

"I'm sorry Cordy. I really wish this wasn't so hard on you."

"Can you just hold me for a minute?" Cordelia asked of him. Angel nodded and proceeded to put his arms around her waist and pull her close. She put her arms around his neck and pulled as close as she could. The two stood like that a moment before they began to pull away. Arms still around each other they locked eyes. Both leaned in and began to kiss.

----------------------------------------------------------

Buffy had gone right outside the front doors to the hotel after leaving Angel and Cordelia. She was on the verge of tears when Spike came out, and upon noticing her watery eyes immediately brought her into his arms and held her tight while she cried. Buffy sobbed for a good ten minutes before pulling away from Spike and sitting down on the front step. 

"Sorry I got your shirt all wet." The slayer said, noticing Spike's wet shirt where she had been crying. 

"'s no problem luv." He said sitting down next to her and putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her in close to him. Buffy leaned her head on his shoulder and stared up into the sky, looking at the darkness above. "You want to tell me what happened that was enough to make you cry?"

"Angel." Buffy stated.

"I figured as much." Spike muttered. "What did Peaches do this time?" Spike asked, getting into his role as the over protective best friend.

"We were watching TV and one thing lead to another and before I knew it were making out on his couch. It was nice. It was like before, when I was younger, but with more passion." Buffy paused, going into her own little world of remembrance before coming back to the present when Spike gently shook her. She briefly looked up at him before putting her head back on his shoulder and continuing. "We were laying there, him on top of me, just getting into it when Cordelia walked in and interrupted us. She informed me of some things that I didn't really want to know."

"Like what, luv?" 

"Like the fact that they had been involved." Buffy informed him, lifting her head to see his reaction. Spike just stared at her incredulously. Buffy noticed his shocked look and continued. "Oh, but it gets better." She paused a moment before putting her head back down onto his shoulder. "He told her he loved her." The girl stated sadly, sounding like she might cry again. Spike just looked at her a moment before saying anything.

"I can't imagine him loving anyone other than you." He told her truthfully. Seeing that he was being honest by looking in his eyes, and that he wasn't just saying that to cheer her up she told him what Angel had said to her earlier. 

"Angel told me earlier that he 'thought' he loved someone else. Maybe that means that he never actually loved her." Buffy said with a renewed sense of hope. 

"Then he probably meant it, and he knows now that he never did love her. At least, not in that way." He told her.

"Good. I feel better now." Buffy told him, standing up and helping him up as well before starting to go in. "When did everyone get back anyways?" 

"Just a while ago. They went shopping and eating." The bleach blond informed her. "Why don't you go back in and talk to the Poof now. I'm sure he will tell you that same thing I did."

"I think I will." She said before heading down the hall to Angel's room. She got to his door and paused a moment. Buffy was not quite sure how to approach the subject. After figuring that directness was the best option she opened his door. The sight that greeted her made her run from the room crying silently. She hadn't made any noise when she left a supposed that Angel hadn't heard her, but that was what she wanted; a silent escape. What she had seen had the power to destroy her. Seeing Angel holding Cordelia tightly and them kissing had broken her already fragile heart. 

Buffy walked into Spike's room where she found him sitting on his bed reading a book.

"Could you go tell everyone else that we are going to leave right now and to go get packed?" She more ordered than asked. Spike knew that now wasn't the time to question the slayer. "I will pack for both of us while you find them."

"Sure." He agreed before getting up and leaving the room to find the others.

Buffy went around Spike's room and packed all of his stuff before heading into her room and packing her own bags. She knew she had to get out of L.A. and back to Sunnydale as quickly as possible. After finishing the packing she grabbed the 2 bags and walked into the lobby to meet the rest of the Scooby's, all packed and ready to go. Buffy assumed that Spike had made them all speed pack and that that was the reason they were all ready when she got there. 

Buffy turned to Fred who was sitting at the front desk. "It was nice to meet you." Was all she said before turning with the rest of her gang following her out, exchanging curious glances. They all wanted to know why Angel and the rest of the fang gang hadn't been there to see them off and why they had to leave to so fast. Of course, they all assumed that something had happened between Buffy and Angel, but no one was about to question the upset slayer right then, or the rest of the trip so Sunnydale. They had piled into two cars and everyone in the car with Buffy remained silent for the entire trip and raced out of the car as quickly as they could to escape the tension that was radiating off of her when they go to her house. 

What will happen next? What does Angel do when he realizes Buffy left? The more reviews I get the sooner I update


	9. Goodbye and Hello

Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to update. Oh, and don't worry, this is definitely not a C/A or B/S story…it will be B/A. Please review!

Angel pulled away from Cordelia after a little while. He felt like he owed her because they had been starting something. But when Buffy came back, he remembered just how much he loved her and realized that whatever he had started with Cordy could never compare to what he could once again have with Buffy. The kiss hadn't meant anything; it was simply a goodbye, and they both knew it.

"I am sorry, Cordelia." Angel said, feeling even guiltier than he thought he would. It wasn't fair to her that he had someone, and she still didn't. 

"Good, you should be." Angel could tell by her harsh tone that bitchy Cordy was back big time. They stared at each other for a while before Cordelia decided she wanted to get away from him and headed back to her room without another word to Angel.

Once Cordelia had left, Angel went across the hall to Buffy's room and knocked on her door. When he got no response, he went to the next door, Spike's, thinking that maybe Buffy had gone to the bleached blonde to talk.  When he got the same result, he didn't think anything of it. Angel figured that Buffy had just gone to the training room or somewhere else in the hotel and headed to the front desk to ask Fred if she had seen Buffy.

"Hey Fred," Angel said, coming to stand in front of the desk, "have you seen Buffy?" When Fred stared at him looking scared, he began to get worried.

"Umm…Angel, Buffy left a while ago." Fred informed the vampire in front of her, looking like she really didn't want to be the one to tell him that Buffy had gone. Angel looked shocked and angry, and she really didn't want to be around him when he was mad.

"What do you mean she left?" He asked with barely contained fury. How could she leave and not have said anything to him?

"S-She and everyone else from Sunnydale left in a hurry-" Before Fred could continue Angel cut her off.

"How long ago?" He questioned hastily.

"I-I don't know. I think a little over an hour ago, probably about an hour and a half." Fred stared at Angel for a second before continuing. "Angel, did something happen? She looked really upset when she left; like she had been crying." She said sadly. In the short time that the slayer had been there, Fred found that she really liked the other girl.

"I'm going to Sunnydale." Angel said before heading to his room to pack a bag and grab his keys. Angel couldn't figure out what had happened to make her leave. He knew she wouldn't leave just because of their fight. Something else must have happened, especially if she was crying. 

When Angel made it back out to the lobby he saw Gunn leaning on the front of the desk talking to Fred. Gunn looked up when Angel came in and glanced at the vampire's bag.

"Where you going?" He questioned.

"Sunnydale," Angel said simply before heading to the door. "If there is an emergency, call me," was the last thing he said before walking out the door, jumping in his shiny black car, and heading to Sunnydale; a place he had been hoping to avoid for a long while more. 

------------------------------------ 

They had been home for about fifteen minutes, and Buffy had been heading up the stairs to bed when she heard Spike on the stairs behind her. She really didn't want to talk to him yet.

"What do you want, Spike?" She asked in a voice that clearly let him know she wasn't interested in talking to him right then. He decided to ignore it knowing that as much as she didn't want to talk, she needed to. He followed her to her bedroom, sat on her bad, and looked away while she changed into her sushi pajamas. Once she had finished changing, he looked up at her and noticed her sad expression. 

"To know what happened," the blonde vampire said. 

"I really don't want to talk about it right now."

"Too bad, your going to anyway, and I'm not leaving until you tell me exactly what the bloody poof did this time," Spike told her matter of fact-ly. Buffy stared at him annoyed. She knew he was telling the truth and that she was going to have to tell him now, no matter how much she didn't want to. She sat on her bad next to him, both leaning against the headboard. She told him what she had seen when she walked into Angel's room to talk to him and how she made sure he didn't hear her on her way out.  When she was through, she laid down on her side, facing away from him, ready to go to sleep before even giving him a chance to comment.

"That bloody ponce!" was the only thing Spike could think to say.

"Spike, I just want to sleep now, so I don't care if you stay or get out; just shut up." She told him tiredly. Spike curled up behind her spoon style, put his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, knowing she would need the comfort. Buffy fell asleep almost immediately, but Spike couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about what Angel had done and stared at her until he heard someone knocking on the front door. 

Spike made his way down the stairs and to the front door. He knew who was on the other side even before he opened it.  When he did, he threw a punch at the man standing there, hitting him in the jaw. 

"What did I do now?" Angel questioned the blonde standing on the other side of the door. Before he even knew what was happening, the door had been swung open, and he had been granted the sight of someone's fist coming quickly towards his face. 

"You hurt her. Again." Spike stated angrily. He hated when the Slayer was upset, especially when Angel was the cause.

"I know," Angel said sadly. "I should have told her what was going on with Cordy." 

"Damn right you should have!" Spike spat at the other vamp. "I had her convinced that you had your reasons for not telling her about that. She even went back to talk to you, but there was nothing I could say to her when I found out she had seen you kissing the girl! I don't know why I helped you out in the first place, you pillock, but right now I'm wishing I had just let her walk away then." 

"S-She saw us?" 

"Yes, she did, and because of you, she has only just cried herself to sleep."

"That wasn't anything… I have to talk to her; I have to explain."

"You can explain all you want, but it's not goin' to make this better." Spike informed him.

"I have to try. Can I come in?" Angel questioned. Spike stepped out of the doorway to let him pass.

"Slayer will stake me for letting you. Better not upset her more."

"Just tell me where she is."

"In her room…asleep. I don't suggest waking her up…she tends to get a bit violent when she's woken." 

"Thanks. Um…which room is hers now?" Angel asked. He figured that she didn't still sleep in her old room with all the other people living in the house.

"Her mom's old room." Spike told him. 

Angel just turned, headed up the stairs, and into the room. He saw Buffy curled up in a ball under the covers, holding them tightly. Angel sat down next to her, one of his legs resting on the bed, the other on the floor, so he was facing her. He thought she looked like an angel in her sleep and couldn't bear to wake her up just then. 

Buffy felt the bed shift and slowly opened her eyes. She stared directly at Angel, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm sorry." When he got no response from her he continued, "It wasn't what you think."

"Really? 'Cause it looked pretty clear to me that you were kissing Cordelia, and it didn't appear that you had fallen into her."

"Okay, so it was what you think. I was kissing Cordelia. It was a goodbye kiss." He could tell that it didn't seem to make her feel any better by the amount of hurt and anger he still found in her eyes. He couldn't take it anymore and looked towards the floor, waiting for her to speak. 

"I don't care what the hell kind of kiss it was; it still hurt."

"How can I fix this?" He asked desperately.

"You can't," she said before turning the other direction and closing her eyes. Angel stared at her for a while before heading down the stairs to talk to Spike and try to figure out how to make up for what he did. 


	10. Moving On

Hey everyone! I'm sooo sorry this took so long…again. I have finals in like a week so school has been really hectic and involved lots of studying with not so much free time. I have a four-day weekend coming up for Memorial Day and will try to update again then. Send me lots of reviews PLEASE! I love them and the more I get the sooner I update and if you have any ideas for the story tell me! Oh! This is definitely NOT a C/A (I HATE Cordy), B/S or B/W it is B/A      

I want to thank my beta, Leslie. Your great! 

 "You can't." Those were the words repeating themselves in Angel's head like a mantra for the past two weeks. Of course "Get out of my house and stay the hell away from me!" was also mixed in. Angel couldn't seem to get any rest since he left Sunnydale two weeks before when Buffy had kicked him out of her house. 'Hell,' he thought, 'she probably had Willow do a spell to keep me out.'  

Buffy had woken a few hours after Angel had left her room and walked downstairs to see him sitting on the sofa and had kicked him out, with protest from him. Angel had gone to Spike but the bleach blonde had told him to figure it out on his own and that he was going to have no part in hurting Buffy and more. So Angel had ended up back in the Hyperion having accomplished nothing but pissing Buffy off even more. Cordelia had left for a vacation the day Angel got back and, luckily for Angel, had yet to return. He had enough problems trying to fix things with Buffy that he didn't need to deal with Cordelia too. 

Fred and Gunn had been watching Angel pacing in the investigation center for the past ten minutes and it was starting to get on their nerves. When Angel had come back he had gone straight to his room and stayed there for a week, only coming out for emergencies. When he started coming out on a regular bases he refused to discuss with anyone what had happened with anyone. 

"Angel, man, you have got to stop the pacing. It's getting damn annoying." Gunn said, breaking the silence. Angel stopped for a moment to shoot Gunn a glare before continuing to pace, trying desperately to come up with a plan that would get Buffy back, or at least get her to start talking to him. If he called and she answered, he was hung up on. It was even worse if Dawn or one of the Scoobies picked up: there was yelling, threatening, and a few not-so-nice words before he heard the dial tone again."Angel!" Fred yelled, also tired of his pacing. "Sit down, stand, I don't care, but _please_stop pacing!"  Angel said nothing but moved around to the opposite side of the table of Fred, nest to Gunn and sat down, while they continued their lunches.

"Angel, will you please tell us what happened with Buffy?" Fred asked, desperate to help her friend.

"I did something stupid…again."

"Could you clarify that a bit?" Gunn asked, he didn't know Buffy well but did find himself liking her during her short stay and wanted to know what could have happened between the blonde and Angel to make the vamp lock himself in his room for a week.

"We argued, talked, kissed and were pretty much set on getting back together. I kissed Cordy and she saw, she packed her stuff and went home. I went to Sunnydale to explain to her what she saw and try to fix it. She told me I couldn't and kicked me out of her house." Angel summed up quickly, not wanting to get into detail. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one. Why were you kissing Cordelia right after getting back with the Slayer?" Gunn asked. 

"That is kinda stupid. Cuz, one, any girl in Buffy's position would be upset and you should have known that and two, she's the slayer and could have beaten the crap out of you for that instead of just walking away." Fred commented, thinking of haw stupid Angel was and how heartbroken Buffy must be. 

"Yeah, tell me something I don't already know." Angel said with annoyance in his voice. "I'm completely stupid. I wasn't thinking straight at the time. Now I have to figure out how to make this up to Buffy. Any ideas?"

"Whatever you do is going to have to be big. You really screwed this up." Gunn said, not telling Angel anything he didn't already know. 

"Angel, we all like Buffy. Even Connor seemed to like her and Lorne and Gunn and I really like her too." Fred told Angel, making a half smile for on his face at the thought of his friends and ever his son liking Buffy. "So, we can wait for Lorne to come back from wherever her is and then we can all help form a plan so that you can make up to Buffy for being a complete ass."

************************************

"Buffy!" Dawn bellowed from the bottom of the stairs to her sister upstairs, tapping her fingers while waiting for Buffy to come down. "Hurry up! I'm gonna be late for school!" Buffy had patrolled until late every night and wasn't eating much since they got back from L.A. and it made her and everyone else worry about her. Dawn knew what had happened in L.A. with Angel, as did the rest of the Scooby's and they knew that's what had Buffy off her game. Now, though, Buffy seemed to be bouncing back a bit. She even had a date with Principal Wood the next night, which creeped Dawn out a little, but she was still happy that her sister was getting back to normal. She heard her coming down the stairs then Dawn grabbed her bag so they could go.

"Ok, come on." Buffy said as she reached Dawn. She had gotten her license a few weeks ago so that Xander wouldn't have to pick them up and drive them to school. Buffy had even gotten a car, a pretty blue Psaat (don't know if that's how to spell it), as a present from Giles. 

Once they go to school the two sisters parted ways, Dawn going to class and Buffy to her office. The blonde sat at her desk looking up stuff about the new demon in town, but not really concentrating. She hadn't been able to get the picture of Angel kissing Cordelia out of her head since she saw them. She knew her friends were worried about her and that was why she had said yes to Wood when he had asked her out for the next night. She knew she had to at least try to get over Angel and she genuinely liked Wood and figured she could have a good time with him.  

*****************************

Faith knew Buffy wasn't doing as well as she pretended to be and knew Angel was the reason why. She had gotten sick of seeing her sister-slayer hurting because of a guy, and was going to do something about it. In the time Faith had been living with Buffy, about two months, the two had resolved their issues and had become friends and Faith, for the first time, knew what it was like to be accepted and cared about and didn't want to see the person responsible for that in pain. Which was the reason she was heading to Angel Investigations. 

Once there she walked to the back door that lead directly to AI instead of the hotel lobby. As she walked in she saw Cordelia sitting behind her desk doing something at the computer.

"Welcome to Angel Investigations. We help the helpless." The seer said without looking up from the computer screen. 

"Yeah, whatever. Where's Angel?" Faith asked. She didn't particularly like the other brunette to begin with and liked her even less after she heard Buffy's story. 

"Gees. Rude much?" Cordelia asked in her snobby voice, finally seeing who had come in. 

"Look bitch, I don't like and I don't want to stand here making small talk with you, so where can I find Angel?" Faith asked again, getting more than a little pissed as the girl. 

"Everyone is in the conference room in the back." Without saying anything else Cordelia Faith walked towards the back and opened the door to the conference room without knocking and walked right in, startling everyone there. 

"Uh, Faith…what can I do for you?" Angel asked hesitantly.

"I want to talk to you. In private." Faith said looking around the table and waiting for Angel to move. "Now."

"We can go to the training room." Angel knew Buffy must have told Faith what had happened and that Faith wasn't to happy about what she heard and Angel figured it was a good idea to have mats around while they talked. 

"Fine. Lets go." Faith said, walking out and heading down a hall that lead to Angels workout center, that was similar to the one Buffy and she used in the Magic Box. Angel got up and followed her reluctantly, everyone else sitting at the table watching him leave and thinking how glad they were that they weren't he. 

Once they got to the work out room Faith sat down in one of the chairs and pulled another one out so that it was in front of her and indicated for Angel to sit. 

Angel sat and decided to get the dreaded conversation going since Faith didn't say anything right away. "Let me guess, you want to talk about Buffy?"

"Yup…"


	11. Plan in Action

Hey! I know this took a while! Sorry. I have a new story posted! It's B/A of course! I posted it in the Angel part of this site, they don't have nearly enough B/A stories there! PLEASE read it and tell me what you think! Its called _Seeing You_

Angel and Faith had been sitting in the chairs quietly for about five minutes, and the silence was beginning to get to Angel. "So are we just going to sit here, or are you going to say whatever it is that you came to say?" He questioned.

"You are a complete and utter moron," was all Faith said.

"I realized that already. Want to tell me something I don't already know?" Angel said sarcastically. He was completely stressed out. Al; week he had been trying to come up with ways to get Buffy to speak with him. When his mind wasn't occupied with that, he was overworking himself so he wouldn't dwell on it. Plus, the lack of sleep was getting to him. 

"She has been absolutely miserable since we got back because of you, and now she's told her boss she would go out with him. I like Wood enough, but I don't want her dating him. So, I'm going to help you get her back." Faith informed him.

"Got any ideas?"

"Maybe…"

**********************************

Buffy was walking in the park with Wood after having had dinner, when they were attacked by a group of about five vampires. Buffy fought them like she normally would, ignoring the fact that her date would have questions later. Then she noticed him fighting along side her. He didn't seem at all surprised to have been attacked by vamps; he actually looked used to it, which made her a bit curious. 

Once all the vamps were dusted, Buffy turned to Wood. "Does that always happen when you go out?" He asked.

"Normally. You?"

"On occasion."

"So, you looked like you knew how to fight and what you were fighting. Want to explain?"

"My mom was a slayer." He told her. When she just stared at him in shock, he spoke again, "Oh, and I know who you are. It's part of the reason I hired you. Figured you could help protect the school."

"Oh. So why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Wanted to be sure I was right in knowing who you were," the man answered. He looked at his arm where he had been scratched by the sword one of the vamps had used. "Don't like them vamps. Haven't met one I liked yet."

When he said that, Buffy thought of Angel and felt sadness overcoming her again. "I have." She said in a whisper.

"What was that? I didn't hear you."

"Nothing."

*******************************

"So, the plan is set?" Faith asked.

"Yeah. I'll go back to Sunnydale with you tomorrow morning and surprise Buffy while she's at school."

"And you will apologize and woo her until she has no choice to go back to your moronic self."

"Right. Thanks again for this, especially the ring."

"You should thank Anya for that. She's the one who found it and said to give it to you. She said something about 'a depressed slayer is a crazy slayer, and they're even more terrifying than bunnies.' I think those were her exact words. She is an odd, odd person." Anya had found a ring similar to the Ring of Amarra; the difference was that he would not be invincible while wearing it, only protected from sunlight. Anya had made Giles pay for it. Then she gave it to Faith, seeing how it wasn't her money being wasted, and told her to give it to Angel. 

*******************************

Buffy was sitting in her office thinking about how her date had ended. Wood had driven her home after the run in with the vampires and had walked her to the door. They were saying goodnight and he was about to kiss her, when Dawn had opened the door.

Dawn had been watching them through the window with a group of other girls and decided she HAD to interrupt their goodnight kiss. "That is **so** disturbing," she said dramatically. "My principal was about to kiss my sister. Very wrong. Besides, isn't there some rue against dating employees?"

"Not that I know of," he told the teen with amusement in his voice. After that Buffy went inside, and Wood left disappointed that he hadn't gotten his kiss.

Buffy had been lost involved in her thoughts, so she didn't realize that someone had come in and closed the door behind him. Principal Wood came up to stand next to her seat. When she still didn't notice him, he turned her chair to face him.

"You must have been having serious thoughts." He said, "Slayers usually notice when someone has been standing near by waiting to be seen."

She grinned at him. "Sorry, I was just thinking about last night. I had fun."

"I'm glad. I did to. Although, I would have liked to finish the night properly." 

Buffy had decided, while lieing in bed the night before, that no matter how much she loved Angel she had to move on and was going to do everything she could to encourage Wood. Remembering her promise, she said to him, "You could finish it now. It's better late then never." She smiled softly at him, wondering what it would be like to kiss him and knowing at the same time that he would never match up to Angel. At least he wouldn't go around kissing other women.

"Very true…" He said before leaning down to kiss her. After a moment he pulled back, and they looked at each other for a moment He stood up straight and grinned down at her. She forced herself to smile back. She could hardly bear to have his lips on hers. She just kept wishing he was Angel and couldn't help but notice that Wood's lips weren't nearly as soft as his. 

"We should get back to work." 

*****************************

Angel and Faith had left L.A. around 8 in the morning and arrived in Sunnydale at 10:30. They had stopped by the house to drop Faith off and unload their bags, before Angel headed out. He stopped at a store and bought Buffy a dozen red roses, a box of chocolates, and a teddy bear. He walked to the school carrying all this in his arms and made his way to her office, after getting directions from some kid. He was about to knock on the door, after shifting all the gifts, when it was suddenly opened. There was another man standing there looking in surprise at the visitor. They stared at each other a moment before Angel spoke, "Is this Buffy Summers' office?"

"Yeah." He told the vampire before opening the door wider to allow Angel entrance. Wood stood by the open door and turned to Buffy. "You have company. We'll talk later." He said before leaving.

Buffy was too busy staring at Angel to even hear Wood. Angel closed the door and stood watching Buffy as she contnued gazing at him.

"Angel" Buffy said meekly. Angel smiled weakly at her.

"Hey. I come bearing gifts." He said, setting his load down on her desk. "I know I can't buy you with cheap things like this or expensive thing either, but I just want everything to be right with you again. I'm really sorry and want the chance to make it up to you. I don't know what to say, but I think if you squeeze the bear there, he'll tell you something." He said, indicating the white teddy bear. She did as he said and squeezed it.

"I love you," was what it said in its cute little voice. Buffy looked up at Angel.

"I do love you. I can't excuse my actions, but I do love you." Angel repeated, looking directly into her eyes. 

"Do you really?" She asked warily. She wasn't sure of him. He had said that before and left her; he had kissed her and then gone to another woman. How could she trust him?

"Buffy look at me. Look into my eyes and see the truth in what I'm going to tell you…again." Once he followed her instructions he told her, "I have lived a long time and still have only loved one person. You." Buffy, having seen the truth in his eyes, stood up in front of him. He had been directly in front of her chair, and they were now touching. She leaned up and claimed his lips with her own. They pulled away from each other, just staring into the other's eyes.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" Angel asked her a little huskily. Buffy opened her mouth to respond but before she could there was another knock on her door. The person that walked through was one of the people she least expected … 


End file.
